People v. Robinson CA1/5

BACKGROUND

In the early morning hours of March 28, 2009, appellant fired several shots into a group of people standing outside a restaurant in Oakland. Vincent Choi was killed and Michael Voong and John Lu were wounded. At trial, the prosecution called nine witnesses who were present at the shooting, including Voong, Lu, and three other friends with whom they and Choi had been socializing that evening. The four other witnesses had been socializing with appellant. The testimony of these nine witnesses varied in certain details, but consistently described the following chain of events. At the restaurant on the evening in question, a verbal altercation arose between the two groups, who had not previously met. At some point during the altercation, both groups left the restaurant. Most members of appellant‟s group began walking to their cars. Most members of the victims‟ group stood on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. Appellant walked down the sidewalk away from the restaurant, then took out a gun and fired several shots into the victims‟ group. Some witnesses heard him say “last chance” before he fired. Two members of appellant‟s group testified that appellant then joined them in…